Stop ads, stop threats: a must for cyber security
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Unlike an increasing amount of today’s world wide web, this article was carefully crafted by the diligent humans at Arbiio, not AI. Accuracy is of paramount importance to us.
Many people don't realise that online advertising isn't just an annoyance; it can also pose a serious threat. As a team committed to online safety and digital security, we want to highlight why blocking ads is essential—not just to avoid irritation but to protect your home network, devices, and loved ones. While most ads are harmless, the complexity and openness of the ad ecosystem make it vulnerable to cybercriminals. Here's how:
Malicious payload delivery
You might wonder, "What is a payload?" Simply put, one of the biggest risks of online ads is their potential to deliver harmful content directly to your device. This malicious advertising, or "malvertising," involves embedding malware—a type of virus—within digital ads. These ads can appear on legitimate websites, making them especially dangerous. Users may unknowingly download malware just by viewing or interacting with an ad. Malware from ads can range from relatively benign "adware," which hijacks ad spaces to display more ads, to severe threats like "ransomware," which locks you out of personal documents until a ransom is paid.
Links to malicious websites
Another common tactic is using ads to redirect users to malicious websites, which are only a click away. These sites often mimic legitimate ones, tricking users into entering personal information that scammers can leverage to impersonate or defraud users. This type of attack, known as "phishing," is alarmingly effective and can lead to identity theft, your credit card details being stolen and used, and more.
Cybercriminals are skilled at creating convincing replicas of trusted websites. An unsuspecting click on an ad can lead to deception, where every piece of data you input could be harvested for malicious purposes. That’s why Arbiio can not only block ads, but also blocks many of these harmful domains. You can read more about this in our articles relating to new and generated domains, impersonated domains, and nefarious domains.
How Arbiio’s ad blocking enhances your security
With an understanding of the risks, here's how Arbiio's ad blocking can help secure your network and why you should consider enabling it:
Remove Malware Threats Before They're Visible: Ad blocking serves as a frontline defense against malvertising by preventing ads from loading, thus avoiding malicious payloads and links.
Improve Browsing Privacy: Ads often track your online behaviour, collecting data to build detailed profiles about your browsing history sold to advertisers. Arbiio helps protect your privacy by preventing these trackers from collecting and selling your information.
Enable Faster Internet Without Ads: While security is the primary reason to block ads, it also speeds up browsing. Ads can slow down page loading times, especially on ad-heavy sites. By blocking these elements at the network level, your browser doesn't download ad data, leading to faster page loads.
Reduce Bandwidth Usage: Ads, especially those with video or high-resolution images, consume significant data. While many Australian and New Zealand internet plans offer unlimited downloads, ad blocking reduces bandwidth usage, lightening the load on your connection and speeding it up for everyone using it simultaneously.
Why choose Arbiio over browser extensions?
If you're convinced of the benefits of ad blocking, network-level blocking with Arbiio is the most comprehensive solution. It extends beyond the capabilities of browser extensions by blocking ads and trackers on all devices connected to your network, even smart TVs. This provides a seamless experience across every screen in your home, minimising risks and improving performance with just a flick of a switch. Explore Arbiio’s configuration steps to discover all our security and filtering options—it's free!